Digital Camera News

July 15, 2005

Konica-Minolta Announces Maxxum 5D and DiMAGE X1

July 15, 2005 - Konica-Minolta announced two new cameras today, the 20.8 oz. 6.1 megapixel Maxxum 5D, a Digital SLR, and the 8 megapixel DiMAGE X1 compact camera. Offering a 2.5" LCD display, the Maxxum 5D will sell with an 18-70mm DT kit lens for $899.99, while the compact DiMAGE X1, with also includes a 2.5" LCD screen along with a 1/1.8" CCD, will sell for $399.99. Availability for the two cameras has yet to be determined.

The Maxxum 5D touts an LSI processing engine and Konica Minolta’s CxProcess™ III image processing technology; however, the key selling point of the 5.1 x 3.6 x 2.6-inch 5D is its Anti-Shake Technology, first seen on the heavier and larger Maxxum 7D. According to Konica-Minolta, the resulting blur reduction is equivalent to an increased shutter speed of two to three stops, resulting in crisper images in situations that might otherwise require a tripod, flash, or higher ISO rating. The Anti-Shake Technology works with all the Maxxum 5D’s compatible lenses, which include all lenses in the Maxxum series as well as a new series of DT lenses announced yesterday.

The Maxxum 5D sports a 9-point 8 line AF sensor and a Zone Matching mode that allows detail in like colors of a scene to stand out. Other notable features include a color temperature adjustment option with a range of 2500K - 9900K with a 19-step Magenta / Green compensation feature. The 5D will shoot continuously at 3 frames per second in Fine JPEG mode for up to 30 consecutive frames and syncs with a flash at 1/125th of a second (with Anti-Shake on). In total, the 5D offers six flash modes, ten color modes, and manual ISO ratings up to 3200. The camera records RAW and JPEG files onto Type I and Type II CompactFlash Cards, Microdrive, SD Memory Card, or MultiMediaCard.

The tiny 3.7 x 2.7 x 0.8-inch DiMAGE X1 also offers an Anti-Shake system which provides added stability equivalent to three EV stops slower and is the first camera in Konica-Minolta’s X series to do so. Along with its Anti-Shake capabilities, high resolution, and slender styling, distinguishing features include a "non-protruding" 3x optical zoom lens, a multifunction dock that handles connectivity as well as battery charging and LCD placement, and a VGA movie mode that records both 640 x 480 and 320 x 240 resolution video with audio at 20 frames per second. The X1 offers seven preset scene modes and a Super Macro Mode with a minimum detecting range of 2-inches. The DiMAGE X1 captures JPEG stills and MOV video with WAVE audio onto SD Card or MultiMediaCard.